Question: For your research paper, you will be responsible for reviewing some of the relevant literature on a topic from this class. Specifically, you will be asked to decide on a topic that you would like to know more about, and then you will be asked to find at leastfivepeer-reviewed articles from psychology journals that discuss empirical research studies. You will be asked to review the basic methods and results of those studies, and use them to draw some conclusion about the topic.
Getting started and finding articles
• To get started on the paper, your first job is to pick a topic. Look back at the lectures and readings we've covered so far. What was interesting to you? What would you like to know more about? Please also consider talking with me so we can brainstorm together.
• Use the PsycInfo database (on Bryant's Library/Articles & Databaseswebpage) to find your articles. I don't recommend using non-scholarly or non-psychology search engines (even google scholar).In your PsycInfosearch options, please check the box labeled "Peer Reviewed" to make sure you stick with appropriate articles from appropriate sources. Ask for help from a librarian or from me if you have trouble with your literature search.
• As you pick articles to review, start by reading the abstracts, which give you a summary. Use the abstract to make sure that the article reports on an experiment, and provides empirical results. That's the kind of article you're looking for.
Reading and interpreting the articles
• Reading journal articles takes some practice. I recommend starting with the abstract so you know what to expect. Then read the introduction, so you know what it's about and why the study was run. You might then want to skip ahead to the discussion so you get an idea of what they found. That will give you some context when you go back to the methods and results sections and try pull out relevant information about the study.
• As you try to pull out the relevant information from the methods it's okay to skim the section on participants or sample, and focus most of your attention on sections like "materials," "questionnaires," "measures," "tasks," or "procedures" (different studies will use different labels depending on the nature of their study). Your main goal is to figure out what the researchers did. If it was a survey or questionnaire, you want to find out what kinds of questions were asked. If it was an experiment, you want to find out what the participants experienced and what they were asked to do, and what the different conditions were. You're trying to find out what was manipulated and/or measured in this study.
• In the results, try not to get too hung up on all of the numbers and equations. It's okay to read right through those as if they're not there. You're looking for written explanations of what was found. Statements like "Group A did more of behavior x than Group B."
Writing the paper
• Your paper is informational. Your job is to provide the reader with evidence about how this decision issue works. Essentially, it's an argument, but a pretty subtle one. You are trying to provide your readers with enough clearly specified evidence to convince them that this issue works in this way. But by argument, that doesn't imply that it has to be controversial or contentious or dramatic. It just means that you are using evidence to support a conclusion. In your opening paragraph, you should set up that conclusion. Give an idea of where this is going.
• Once you set up the issue, review the studies you found. Again, remember that these studies are providing the evidence for your conclusion, and you need provide enough specific information to convince your reader. Your reader will need to have a brief summary of what they did in the study, what they found, and what it means.
• As you wrap up the paper, you'll need to clearly state your conclusions. You may be reiterating what you said at the start, but you'll also need to flesh it out more here. Do not feel like you need the conclusions to be neat and tidy. You may have a nuanced conclusion that accounts for conflicting evidence. You conclusion should always be guided by the evidence, not the other way around.
• An important tip: So far in your journals, your writing has focused on personal reflections, so I've encouraged you to talk a lot about yourself. When you're reviewing scientific studies, the goal is to be more detached. It'snot forbidden touse the words "I" and "me" to avoid a convoluted passive voice statements, but I encourage you to use those words very sparingly. You want to keep the focus on the information, not yourself. Don't say things like "When I read this article, I learned that x happens." Instead, just tell me directly that "x happens" and leave yourself-and the act of reading-out of it. If you're unsure what I mean, then leave "I" out completely.
TOPIC: Heuristics (representativeness, availability, anchoring and adjustment)
*Please use Bryant University's library website and ONLY use scholarly articles that are peer reviewed.
Information related to above question is enclosed below:
Attachment:- HEURISTICS.rar